For a fundraiser our local library has a huge front lawn and they sell spots 2 times a year for a huge yard sale. It is like $15 a spot for a ten by ten, it gets a lot of traffic the police usually have to show up to direct traffic and give tickets to those who refuse to not park I. The community across the street! I would guess they make $5-6k each time, the local radio station comes too, and the librarians sell withdrawn books too!

We HATE our library !!!!! We avoid it like the plague . They charge $25 dollars for a library card if you live out side the city limits , Nothing is where it is supposed to be, the staff is rude, the books are falling apart and its in the ghetto part of town right next door to the homeless shelter . The homeless shelter kicks people out during the day so they come and hang out in the library .

Now our local bookstore on the other hand is awesome! They have a story hour where the kids listen to a story , do a craft and play a game.

Ours has a Book Bash once a month, a local literacy group donates hundreds of (usually) board books and then local college kids and the librarians set up themed games all around the library for the little kids. It's always a ball.

Story time three times a week. Movie day on early outs from school. After school programs with crafts and story time and stuff. Their kids summer reading program is absolutely to die for.

They have several book club options for the adults, they usually have a pre-showing party for when books-that-become-movies do a midnight showing at the local theater (Twilight, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, etc)

Plus they carry tons of shaped cake pans which I love.

They have Babysitter boxes that teens can check out full of fun stuff for different ages. Bundle bags with different themes (new baby, Alphabet, 123, farm, construction, etc) with different books and some small toys/puzzles/game ideas inside.

I love our library.

IMO, it's the librarians that make or break a library. Our children's librarian is the coolest person ever. She knows my kids and if a new book comes in that she thinks they'll like she'll call me and set it aside for them. She's turned my oldest onto SO many different books. I was struggling because DS1 reads at a 4th/5th grade level but he is only 8 years old, she was able to find me books that would challenge his reading ability but weren't too 'grown up' for him.

I sparkly heart our library system. I was on the community board for the one in my town and we raised money by having really nice reusable bags for sale year round. Also, when it got rebuilt a few years ago, they sold personalized bricks for the walkway (this, I believe is also on-going, as they can pull out the non-personalized bricks when someone commissions a brick).

For programs, we have tons of regular story times for different ages, teen programs, book clubs, etc. there are also special things going on all the time- a kid science program, a speaker on bats, a family puppet show. There are things almost every day of the week. Since it is part of the county library system, there are roving programs as well. All summer there is a summer reading program for all ages with prizes and things like magic shows, art, etc.

They also do a huge book sale once a yr at a local school. Kids books are .25-.50 cents, adult are .50-$1. They sell old library books, donated books, DVDs, etc as well as rare books (for higher prices).

One thing I don't like, but understand, is that for the first time, maybe in 20 or more years, they had to reinstate fines. They never used to do them, but with budget cuts, it was either that or cut hours or close branches. I'd rather have the fines.

Oh, our teen center there is awesome and has video games, board games, self check out computers, their own librarian, etc. the kids section has a sep story room, tables with puzzles, a kid bathroom, own librarian, game computers, etc. there is the rifd chip (?) in our books that gets read thru a scanner- you still have to do them one by one, but just by laying it on a pad, not scanning. Free meeting rooms some with kitchens... I could go on and on!

What I LOVE about our library:
*There is a "Kids' Discovery Room" in the children's area for young children to play in. The theme changes every 6 weeks and they just have all kinds of fun toys and activities and crafts for kids to do. It is staffed entirely by volunteers. My kids *adore* the Discovery Room.
*The kids' area has fun chairs to lounge in and read and has two little phone booths (with payphones that are linked so they can talk to one another from the two booths), legos, bead tables, etc. I like that the kids aren't expected to be totally silent and "proper" and can play a little and have fun.
*Annually, they host a library "camp-in" for families. The kids can pledge to be screen-free (no tv/movies/computer/video games) for a week and as a reward they can sign up to sleep over at the library with a parent. We went this year and it was such a fun event! They had activities and a performer and snacks in the evening, then they locked the doors and everyone got set up and ready for bed and chose books, then it was lights out and quiet time while kids could read in their beds with flashlights until they fell asleep. In the morning they had a small breakfast. My son LOVED it!

I'm not sure about the rest of the programs as we haven't really tried any of them out except preschool storytime, and it was way too crowded and chaotic for my DD to enjoy herself, but I know they have all kinds of other events going on almost every day of the week...

What I HATE about our library:
*there are only two branches in metro area of ~190,000. Seriously? I hate, hate, hate this.
*no free parking in the downtown location. It's all metered.
*movie rentals cost $1 each

What I *really* miss about the library where I used to live:
*grace period! They gave a 1-week grace period after the due date before fines started to be accrued. I got so used to this that I have been getting nailed with fines since moving. I miss the grace period!!!
*lots of fun toys and puzzles and activities and packets for kids at the library and available for checkout. Our current library has some but our old library was awesome for this.

I love our library because it is built in 2 stories. The adult section is upstairs and the children's department and teen room is downstairs. You don't have to worry about shushing the kids the whole time. I love the library system where you can order your books online! The librarians are great as are the lego and chess clubs! We love our library!!

We go to the Princeton public library and its amazing!! It's multi level and the kids floor is the 3rd floor. It has a room for story time that they have multiple times a week. They even have foreign language story time. Last time I was there it was French.
They have couches and play tables and hundreds of books that are out to read without the trouble of putting them back.

They have an AMAZING salt water fish tank with steps for the littles to stand on and watch. Hours of fun!

They have book clubs, homework help, private rooms fir meeting in, many computers, baby play group after baby story time, book festivals with authors. It's an amazing resource!! And that's all on the children's floor. It has just as much or more for adults.

__________________~Elizabeth RN~
Proud Mama toHannah (5/98), Parker(3/01), Sofia (7/03) and Lily(10/10)Happy to beagain after a bit of a break